Candles have been used as part of religious ceremonies for centuries, with votive candles taking over for the most part in the type of candle being used. Candles are used as part of different services with some of their uses being merely for light or decoration and some of their uses as being symbolic. Many people light votive candles as part of a prayer ritual and many churches have rows of votive candles in stands to show how many people are praying for specific things.

Does lighting a candle make your prayer more certain to be heard or does it mean you are more sincere with your prayer? Does the act of doing something somehow make the prayer more effective? How many candles do you need to burn to make sure the prayer is heard and how many votive candles do you need to light show the seriousness of your request? Interesting questions and the correct answer is none. That’s right the answer is none. We are told to “Pray without ceasing.”—1 Thessalonians 5:17. How does that square with lighting votive candles. Do we need to light votive candles without ceasing too?

The answer to praying without ceasing is to have an attitude of prayer in our lives that shows we understand that continual conversation with our Father about everything that bothers us, or excites us or intrigues us is how to live our lives. Prayer should not be relegated to once a week on Sunday or only when a candle is lighted. If we are trusting in the lighting of a votive candle or many candles as a sign of our seriousness or commitment to prayer we are missing the point.

The only act that assures our prayers are heard by our Father is a contrite heart and repentance for our sins. Christ taught us a prayer to use that covers everything we need to pray for, let’s use that as our model and not trust in candles or other human actions.

When Jesus died, he didn’t do it because he had actually done anything wrong. These days we tend to see commercialism being put onto, of all things, a cross. Last night, for example, I saw a diamond encrusted cross on one of the sales channels being sold for £11k! What many people fail to realise is that the cross was the death sentence for criminals in Roman times. Surprisingly, I don’t see many people walking around with a diamond encrusted guillotine or hang-mans noose. So the innocent man was killed by the most gruesome of all methods, nails being driven into his wrists and feet and then left to die, hanging on a piece of wood.

If Christians followed the teachings of a man who stayed dead we would be a very sad bunch. But Christians believe that Jesus died AND then rose again, brought alive by the power of God. And continues to be alive now. We also believe that because Jesus did it, we all can do it when we believe in him and follow his teachings.

So how can we communicate that in simple crafts? Well if we are not careful then we will quickly end up just making pretty decorations and take away from the power of the season. If on the other hand we consider what the craft is trying to do – tell the story of Jesus death and resurrection – then immediately we will start to approach our craft creations with a different attitude.

So you can keep the fluffy bunnies and the chicks, but let’s have some crafts that actually teach too. Here are some examples which also use the trappings we find at Easter: plastic Easter eggs, Easter cards, and springtime ideas, to tell the most powerful story in the world

Plastic Easter eggs

You can use these in half to make small tombs. Place one half in an egg box lid. Put some soil around it. Cut a piece of card out that is large enough to cover the mouth of the egg. Fold some white toilet tissue or a small piece of cloth and place it in the egg half. This makes a small tomb.

Your kids can then get a picture of a roman soldier off the internet, or angels, or disciples and cut them out, placing them in front of the tomb.

Easter cards

Cut a hole in the front of the folded card. On the inside, behind the hole, draw a picture of a cave, or even just stick some folded toilet paper. Decorate the front of the card as a garden, and as mentioned above, glue Roman soldiers or disciples.

Springtime ideas

Departing from the idea of making a garden, simply planting seeds or bulbs are useful, and very plentiful at this time of year. As you plant them, talk to your children and ask them if they think that the seed looks alive or dead. Point out that Jesus said that a seed must go into the ground and die if it is to come alive again and grow. And that’s what he did. He died so that everyone can grow in God and get to know him.

Finally, to get the best of any of these activities, ask your children or the people you are working with to tell you the story of Easter on the way through, and perhaps identify characters in the story, and what they would have been thinking.